Mystery NATO customer buys Australian-made laser weapon
Electro Optic Systems (EOS), the Australia-based defense technology firm, has announced its first international order for a 100-kilowatt-class high-power laser weapon system.
According to a company release issued Tuesday, a European NATO member state has placed a €71.4 million (approximately $82 million) order for the system, which will be produced at EOS’s Singapore facility and delivered between 2025 and 2028.
The contract includes the laser units, spare parts, training packages, and documentation.
EOS says the system was developed in response to the growing operational demand for cost-effective defenses against increasingly sophisticated drone swarm attacks.
“The new laser counter-drone capability was developed by EOS to address the urgent market need and emerging strategic requirement to defend against drone swarm attacks at an economical cost,” the company said in a statement.
EOS emphasized that the deal represents the first export of a laser defense system in the 100kW class, a level of power designed to neutralize aerial threats with speed and precision. The company noted that its new high-energy laser builds upon years of experience in kinetic counter-drone systems, such as missiles and guns, already fielded in multiple conflict zones.
The company has spent the past three years conducting extensive field testing and firing trials of the laser system in coordination with unnamed defense clients. According to EOS, the weapon incorporates integrated algorithms, radar, threat detection, target acquisition, and beam-locking technologies to maintain high accuracy and lethality under field conditions.
In a statement accompanying the release, EOS said the system will complement its existing suite of counter-drone solutions and allow customers to defeat aerial threats without expending costly ammunition.
“This is the world’s first export order for a 100-kilowatt class laser defence system,” EOS stated. “The high-power laser builds on [our] core competencies and substantially extends them.”
While EOS did not name the customer, the company’s previous deals with NATO partners have included advanced remote weapon stations and counter-unmanned aerial systems. The company’s expansion into laser-based systems reflects a wider trend within NATO militaries to field scalable directed-energy capabilities for air defense.
